Last weekend, Japanese standouts Kunitaka, Genji Umeno and Yosuke Morii took to Thailand to test their skills under full muay thai rules. Kunitaka took on Singdam Wor. Rungniran at Rajadamnern Stadium on the 24th while Umeno and Morii fought at Lumpini Stadium on the 25th against Kongnapha Srimongkol and Farmeechai Sitbhota, respectively.

At Rajadamnern Stadium, #6 ranked Rajadamnern Stadium Bantamweight Singdam Wor. Rungniran was able to stop WBC Intercontinental Super Bantamweight champ Kunitaka in the 3rd round with a series of clinch knees to the body and legs. The two were going blow for blow throughout a majority of the first two rounds, though Singdam's leg strikes seemed to be carrying a lot more power and causing more damage. Towards the end of the second round, Kunitaka found success in cutting off the ring and trapping Singdam in a neutral corner, something he found even more success with in the 3rd, however it appears that Singdam landed a strong, short elbow in the corner that deterred Kunitaka's further efforts. After a leg kick that appeared to buckle Kunitaka's leg, Singdam began coming forward and initiated a clinch that led to about 8 unanswered knees to Kunitaka's midsection followed by another clinch that saw Singdam abuse Kunitaka's left leg en route to the stoppage. The stoppage was a bit strange to me, though I don't watch a lot of muay thai, as Kunitaka may have been fading greatly from the leg strikes, but he was certainly capable of continuing. Nonetheless, it's a good win for Singdam who showed dominance with his leg kicks. For Kunitaka (36-22-3, 26 KO) it's a 3rd straight loss to a Thai as he was stopped by Rungravee Sasiprapa in Las Vegas and then dropped a decision to Kaimookdam Chuwattana in a fight for the WBC World Super Bantamweight title.

At Lumpini Stadium, Genji Umeno took his first fight as a Lumpini ranker, dropping a decision to #8 ranked Super Featherweight Kongnapha Srimongkol. Apparently it was a close fight and Umeno argued the decision, but Kongnapha was the victor nonetheless. The loss is a disappointment for Umeno (19-2-1, 9 KO) who was on fire with a 10-fight win-streak, with 5 of those fights coming against Thais and all 5 of those wins were by TKO or KO. At just 23, Umeno still has time to capture a Lumpini or Rajadamnern Stadium title.

Also fighting that night at Lumpini Stadium was Umeno's rival Yosuke Morii who had his fight stopped in the 3rd round due to a cut. Reports say that Morii was dropped before the fight was stopped, so he seemed to be on the way out before the cut. Morii's most recent fight was a loss to Umeno back in December.